On the Edge

Craving for Spring (excerpt) – D.H.Lawrence Ah come, come quickly, spring! Come and lift us towards our culmination, we myriads; we who have never flowered, like patient cactuses. Come and lift us to our end, to blossom, bring us to our summer we who are winter-weary in the winter of the world. Come making the … Read more

The Child of the Universe

Dreams are illustrations… from the book your soul is writing about you. — Marsha Norman (American playwright) While it is true that the real artist’s adventure begins with our being able to admit to our inner dream, it is also true that we can almost instantly react with resistance to it. Julia writes, “This resistance … Read more

The Temptations of Self-Sabotage

The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference. — Elie Wiesel Are you having any trouble relating to our discussion about enthusiasm and lavishing love on … Read more

The Bind That Blocks Us

We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. — Ralph Waldo Emerson We are beginning Chapter Nine, Recovering a Sense of Compassion, by examining the power of words. As you know, words have enormous power, from spells to curses, from treaties to laws. The old childhood … Read more

Goal Search Exercises

Ideas in secret die. They need light and air or they starve to death.— Seth Godin We continue with the exercises that will finalize our journey through Chapter Eight. First, Julia warns us that this task may be difficult, but we should do it anyway. I did not find it difficult, personally. I found it … Read more

Excuses

Grandmother Frier © Carol GerbingI cannot count the good people I know who to my mind would be even better if they bent their spirits to the study of their own hungers.— M.F.K. Fisher Concluding our ruminations today on how we use our age and other methods to stay blocked, it is time to reconsider … Read more